Stalin's Bunker Buster, The Story of the KV-2 | Cursed By Design

for a machine that has become nearly as iconic  to tank fans as the world famous tiger t-34 or   sherman the history behind the glorious kv-2  has remained out of the direct spotlight   in most history documentaries and books today  however we'll finally shine a light onto one of   the most bizarre and beloved tanks to ever exist  throughout history there have been countless tanks   all designed to kill but not all have  been a success what happened to the ones   that never made it and why did they fail my name  is coneofarc join me as we journey through time   uncovering failed projects and  forgotten creations in cursed by design   the vehicle that would become known by such names  as the king of derp and soviet fridge began its   life thanks largely if not entirely due to the  finished defenses during the winter war especially   along the Mannerheim line this conflict between  the soviet red army and the Finnish defenders not   only showed the sheer number of soldiers that  could be lost due to poor tactics but also the   lack of something capable of smashing through the  defenses the kliment vorishlov or KV proved itself   as being up to the task outperforming the  competing heavy tank designs and being virtually   immune to anything that was thrown at it but only  possessing a relatively small anti-tank armament   it still could not inflict the damage needed to  break these defenses quickly to solve this the   soviets began a program to develop a tank to meet  these requirements this would eventually lead to a   design originally known simply as the KV “Bolshaya  Bashnya” or KV big turret and would begin   production at nearly the same time as the kv small  turret as the 76 millimeter version would be known   this designation was of course later  simplified further to kv-1 and kv-2   in 1941 and i'll be referring to them by these  names for the remainder of the video although   i must point out that these pre-production  tanks were never given the designation the   urgency of this design was shown in the extremely  short design time given to produce the tank in   just two weeks the designers were able to create  the first of the prototype turrets designated mt1   with the millimeter model 1938 howitzer they were  then sent for trials near the factory in total   four KV prototypes would get the big turret kv u1  to u4 all had the big turret u0 was also given it   but was given the 76 millimeter turret after  factory testing these tanks were then sent to   the front in Finland upon arrival the tanks  were given to the 20th heavy tank brigade   for combat trials and showed remarkable results  in one instance u0 reportedly received 22 hits   without being knocked out of action according to  some sources Finnish anti-tank guns actually stop   firing at the tanks after three non-damaging hits  this is quite believable considering at this stage   of the war the Finns were so low on ammo they did  everything they could to conserve what they had   the immense size and armor of these tanks earned  them the nickname dreadnought by their crews   overall the performance was acceptable to soviet  command despite the tank's many faults not just   due to the teething problems of the kv itself  but also due to the fact that the bigger gun   and turret increased the weight from around 45  tons on the standard kv to an excess of 53 tons   the turret alone weighing 12 tons this caused  immense strain on the turret ring on top of the   stresses the engine and gearbox had already been  experiencing following the successes of these   prototypes an order of 100 kv-2s and 130 kv-1s  was given although 20 pre-production turrets had   already been produced with some slight alterations  the final version of the kv-2 differed from the   pre-series tanks quite significantly to attempt to  remedy some of the issues and simplify production   the turret was completely reworked scrapping the  previous angled mt1 design for a new rolled plate   which created a six-sided turret with vertical  walls called the mt-2 this created two distinctly   different looks to the kv-2s you may know these  by their more common western names the kv-2 1939   and kv-2 1940 respectively although these names  were never actually used by the soviets themselves   only being given the kv big turret and kv-2  designations the mt2 also featured a new gun the   m10s 152 millimeter and a coaxial machine gun to  replace the pistol ports from the mt1 this turret   was then tested on whole u7 and would go on to  become the basis of the production version despite   these changes in the two-ton weight reduction of  the new design it was still impossible to overcome   the main weaknesses and the turret ring would  still be pushed to its limit this caused the tank   to take a full 36 seconds for a full 360 degree  turn of the turret using the electric traverse or   with the backup manual system the tank would also  need to stop on flat terrain to be able to fire   it since the immense recoil could cause damage  if this wasn't done not to mention the tendency   the turret had to traverse on its own towards the  vehicle's lowest point making it very unsafe for   the crew and surrounding soldiers should that  result in the top heavy machine falling over   following u7 the final production version of the  vehicle began to be produced with a ball mount   for an mg added to the front hull and turret rear  for further close defense situations along with a   slew of other minor changes although i should note  here that the early pre-series versions would also   be pressed into combat along with the final design  by the end of its production cycle a total of 204   kv-2s would be built with four pre-production  vehicles 20 more with the pre-production turret   80 with the production turret in 1940  and 100 more production tanks in 1941.   to keep this video from getting too long however  we'll save some of the stranger variants of the   kv-2 for a future video and now discuss its  performance in combat against the germans right   from the start the tanks were plagued by problems  the beginning of operation barbarossa would come   right at the end of the production cycle but  replacement parts were few and far between   for the new kv-2s meaning that many units were  under-equipped with spare parts and ammunition as   well as being untrained with the tanks some units  hadn't even received any ammunition for the tank   at all and most crews had less than 10 hours of  training due to the soviets clashing the tanks as   secret weapons and keeping them in storage these  issues were then mixed with the rapid attack of   the germans which caused the slow lumbering kv-2s  to be pushed far beyond their capabilities despite   this however the kv-2 could still cause quite  a headache for the advancing germans with their   thick armor being resistant to all but the most  powerful anti-tank guns at the time unfortunately   for the kvs their original intended role of  slowly advancing to destroy enemy fortifications   which fit the soviet battle doctrine could not  be done and instead the tanks were used directly   in defensive combat against advancing enemy units  which was yet another thing the crews and army as   a whole were not properly trained for in that role  they fared badly being largely abandoned by their   own crews with the soviets occasionally using them  as basically mobile bunkers at strategic defense   points in this role the kv-2 could be truly  devastating to the attackers the germans at this   time were still mainly using 37 or 50 millimeter  anti-tank guns with similar armaments on their   tanks which could barely scratch the armor to  knock out these tanks it was often only possible   by closing the range with infantry or by heavy  artillery bombardment as only the 88 millimeter   flat gun was truly capable of dealing with the  armor although that being said the germans were   quick to learn that by immobilizing the tanks  the crew would often bail out rather than trying   to continue fighting despite this both the regular  kv and kv-2 were able to help heavily delay german   attacks which in the long term contributed greatly  to stalling the blitzkrieg allowing the soviets to   hold back the push and later counter it probably  the most famous example of this tank in action   is the story of the lone kv during the battle  of Raseiniai during the fighting a single kv-2   positioned itself at a crossroads behind the front  line this crossroad was vital due to the fact that   the surrounding area was swampy ground meaning  vehicles could not pass through on the 24th   of june as the germans tried to move some of their  wounded soldiers as well as captured soviets back   east they spotted the tank i can only imagine  the germans on the convoy probably thinking   it was just another knocked out tank that is  until it opened fire on them the germans then   pulled their convoy back fearing this was part of  an expected soviet counter-attack the kv was then   able to destroy 12 trucks from a supply convoy  attempting to move to the troops on the front   clearly this tank needed to be knocked out and the  germans threw everything they had at it reports   differ on the exact details of the engagement and  it's possible if the tank was in fact a kv-1 and   not a kv-2 although new evidence strongly suggests  it was in fact a kv-2 but regardless the results   were the same this one tank and its brave crew  were able to stop an entire assault in its tracks   for a full day this incredible story served as the  basis for the Raseiniai heroes medal you can earn   in the game world of tanks if you'd like to see  me cover this in more detail i'd be happy to but   for sake of time i won't in this video by the  end of 1941 nearly all of the kv-2s and soviet   service had been abandoned destroyed or captured  with only a few managing to make it into 1942. it   is possible that at least a single kv-2 was still  in action as late as 1943 with one photo existing   showing a tank with the number 528 on the side the  use of captured kv-2s by the germans in general is   also relatively unknown many were captured during  the invasion and they were eventually placed into   service with the designation kv-2 754-r with some  receiving a german cupola to improve vision for   the commander some of these modified kvs were to  be issued to panzer company 66 which was a special   armor unit with a range of rare vehicles which  was planned to be used to invade the island of   Malta in the Mediterranean but this was never done  after the disaster of the german invasion of Crete   and the fate of the tanks in this unit is as  unknown as the captured kv-2s used by other units   although evidence points to most being lost  in battle or abandoned in the winter of 1942   sadly only one of these unique and significant  machines survives with a production kv-2 on   display at the russian central armed forces museum  in Moscow although there is also one replica in   the battle glory of the euros museum also in  russia i'll put the town name on the screen for   those of you who are interested because there is  no way i would pronounce that correctly in the end   although this tank contributed to the halting  of the blitzkrieg and subsequent soviet victory   it was cursed by a number of design flaws that  made it impractical for the type of combat it   was needed for despite these flaws the kv-2 is  still beloved by tank fans around the world and   in games like world of tanks it still serves as a  source of fear for those facing it just as it did   all those years ago thank you as always to  my youtube members who helped me get the   surprisingly expensive source material to allow  me to make such a lengthy and detailed video   i also want to give a special thanks to Francis  Pulman who helped me ensure this video was as   accurate as possible he is a channel of his own  where he detailed the history of the kv family   of tanks as well as other soviet machines  and even wrote a book on the soviet t-35   links to both his channel and his book will  be in the description please check them out   he really knows his stuff when it comes to soviet  tanks as i mentioned earlier if you'd like to see   more videos on other uses of the kv-2 as well as  the story of the Raseiniai tank please let me know   in the comments below and consider becoming a  youtube member yourself as it's the best way   to directly support these videos don't forget to  subscribe and leave a like on this video if you   enjoyed it and check out the other episodes of  curse by design in the playlist on your screen

Channel: ConeOfArc

Views: 1,648,453

Keywords: ConeOfArc, red army, russian bias, operation barbarossa, soviet union, war thunder kv-2, kv2, kv2 history, simple history kv2, soviet tanks, soviet tank history, soviet tank design, cursed by design tanks, worst tanks ever made, worst tanks ever, worst tanks in history, kv2 firing, real kv2 tank, kv2 real life, kv2 footage, real kv2 footage, kv-2, kv 2 history, kv tanks ww2, kv tank documentary, kv tank movie, kv tank series, kv tank family, tank kv 2, tank kv 1, ww2

Id: F0_dHpyYN-Y

Length: 12min 30sec (750 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 20 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/GoyardGat]

The American bunker buster was an M2 flame thrower